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Friday, August 26, 2011

Shared Topic: Transmogrification and Void Storage

Essence over at GamerGirlConfessions (and many more) tossed out the topic of reactions to the Transmogrification as a shared topic for Blogazeroth. Ive been thinking quite a bit about this topic so here is my take.

At first I was very optimistic when I heard about the reskinning. It had been a topic Id posted about on the wow forums for some time. I love 'looks' for my characters and being 'stuck in the suck' was something that would make me stop playing a character.

Then more details came out and my hopes were crippled. Still moving but not running free through the meadow any more.

My first problem is you cant change Ledgendaries. What makes the level 85 hammer Sulfuras, The Extinguished Hand so different from level 60 Sulfuras, Hand of Ragnaros? Im not talking about hiding a legendary..I agree with that but why can I make my weapons look legendary if Id gained them? Blizzard has mumbled a few answers that are about as satisfying as to why they wont let legendaries be upgraded to current content even as blues. So it looks like another couple fo years using my Warglaive of Azzinoth and having them be weak. I mean their OWN picture shows a paladin holding Sulfuras, Hand of Ragnaros! Obviously SOMEONE knows it looks far cooler than the stupid extinguished one.

The next problem is they wont let you 'mix' armor types. Well since I mostly RP a Demon Hunter..and Blizzard only has a leather bind fold..and 98% of all kilts aren't plate (ok more if your a paladin but not a lot) my main character I REALLY wanted this for is simply S.O.L. The rest I kinda wanted something but..meh. The loss of the main things I wanted makes getting the other stuff unsatisfying in the extreme especially since Blizzard seems to be doing it more or less 'just cause'.

Now I do think this is a hugely valuable addition to the game. As I broke down for Blizzard in the Burning Crusade you have a large amount of gold entering into the economy and you need to have a nice steady drain on it to keep things balanced. It needs to be optional but attractive enough people will want to do it. This is ideal. The only better thing to do would be to tie it into the professions so they were more actively useful.

And alas poor druids.

So, how does Void Storage tie in?

For a fee you will be able to store items from any character in it, accessible by all of them. Ive read the documentation very carefully and I havent found anywhere where it says they remain soulbound. In fact when they say their stripped of all gems, enchants, etc back to their raw state it seems to imply they stop being bound. So, how does this help Transmuting?

Virtually everyone I know has said "Man I wish I had 'X" quest reward still." and this solves that problem neatly for blizzard without making for a lot of work. You want that unique item that is only given to the horde only in a level 40 quest? Roll a new toon, and have some fun with a special reward at 40. Again I'm cautiously optimistic that's what this is all about. Its what Id do but then I wouldn't be making people suffer because I couldn't be bothered to make some GOOD looking warrior kilt plate legs.

The fee to put things in and out of the bank does mean at least all those gnome bank alts will still have work at least.